Japan is to cancel a ceremony to mark the anniversary next week of the March 2011 triple disaster on its north-east coast, as part of government-led efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The national ceremony was due to be held in Tokyo on 11 March, exactly nine years after a powerful earthquake and tsunami killed more than 18,000 people and triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The government had considered scaling down the ceremony or asking participants to take precautions against the virus, but is making plans to cancel it, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, last week recommended the cancellation of large-scale sports and cultural events after the government drew criticism for its handling of the outbreak.
Japan recorded its 1,000th Covid-19 infection on Wednesday, in the western prefecture of Yamaguchi. The total includes 706 passengers and crew from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise liner. Twelve people have died from the virus in Japan, including six linked to the ship.
This week the organisers of two of Tokyo’s biggest cherry blossom festivals said they were scaling back the events to discourage large numbers of people from viewing the flowers when they come into bloom in the capital later this month.
While people will still be able to view the famous blossoms along the Meguro river during the day, organisers said the area would not be lit at night. Visitors will also be able to arrange private hanami gatherings in Ueno park, but there will be no mobile food trucks or rubbish bins provided.
Many of the most popular attractions in Tokyo have announced closures until at least the middle of the month.
The long list of leisure and cultural attractions to have temporarily closed their doors include Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, the Ghibli Museum, Tokyo Skytree and the Kabukiza theatre.
A travelling exhibition of 60 paintings – including Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers –from the National Gallery in London has been postponed until at least 17 March after its Japanese host, the National Museum of Western Art, said it would close. The exhibition is due to move to Osaka in early July.
The Robot Restaurant in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district – a popular destination for overseas tourists – will not reopen until 9 March, while the Toyosu fish market, known for its dawn tuna auctions, will be off-limits to visitors until the middle of the month.
The outbreak has also hit the capital’s culinary scene, with the conveyer-belt sushi chain Hamazushi saying that diners will now have to order dishes via a touch-screen panel rather than selecting plates as they pass in front of them, NHK said.
